Amtrak combining the Silver Star and Capitol Limited (a new Floridian?)

It is going to take a while for all the connections to be posted. Only some Chief connections are shown. Maybe calls to reservations might get them in the computer for about 6 months,

Five days ago I made a Chicago-to-DC reservation on the #30 Capitol Limited for July 6, 2025. Two days ago Amtrak sent an email updating my eTicket to #41 Floridian (same route and schedule). Some changes are in the works but I can't find anything on the Amtrak website yet.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:34 pm

markhb wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 11:04 am Here's the full schedule:

And the way back?

We aim to please, apparently running daily starting no later than 12/20...

40 Floridian
46h 40m

Departs Miami, FL (MIA) - 11:05a

11:29a | 11:29a - Hollywood, FL (HOL)

11:43a | 11:43a - Fort Lauderdale, FL (FTL)

12:00p | 12:00p - Deerfield Beach, FL (DFB)

12:13p | 12:13p - Delray Beach, FL (DLB)

12:35p | 12:35p - West Palm Beach, FL (WPB)

1:34p | 1:34p - Okeechobee, FL (OKE)

2:08p | 2:10p - Sebring, FL (SBG)

2:54p | 2:56p - Winter Haven, FL (WTH)

3:36p | 3:36p - Lakeland, FL - To/from points south (LKL)

4:31p | 4:45p - Tampa, FL - Union Station (TPA)

5:19p | 5:21p - Lakeland, FL - To/from points north (LAK)

6:03p | 6:06p - Kissimmee, FL (KIS)

6:34p | 6:50p - Orlando, FL (ORL)

7:05p | 7:07p - Winter Park, FL (WPK)

7:47p | 7:49p - DeLand, FL (DLD)

8:36p | 8:39p - Palatka, FL (PAK)

10:09p | 10:29p - Jacksonville, FL (JAX)

12:49a | 1:34a - Savannah, GA (SAV)

2:55a | 2:57a - Denmark, SC (DNK)

4:04a | 4:13a - Columbia, SC (CLB)

4:52a | 4:54a - Camden, SC (CAM)

6:23a | 6:28a - Hamlet, NC (HAM)

7:05a | 7:08a - Southern Pines, NC (SOP)

8:15a | 8:24a - Cary, NC (CYN)

8:57a | 9:08a - Raleigh, NC - Union Station (RGH)

10:24a | 10:27a - Rocky Mount, NC (RMT)

11:53a | 11:55a - Petersburg, VA (PTB)

12:34p | 12:43p - Richmond, VA - Staples Mill Road Station (RVR)

2:31p | 2:31p - Alexandria, VA (ALX)

3:06p | 4:05p - Washington, DC - Union Station (WAS)

4:29p | 4:29p - Rockville, MD (RKV)

5:16p | 5:16p - Harpers Ferry, WV (HFY)

5:45p | 5:45p - Martinsburg, WV (MRB)

7:17p | 7:24p - Cumberland, MD - Amtrak Station (CUM)

9:47p | 9:47p - Connellsville, PA (COV)

11:48p | 11:59p - Pittsburgh, PA - Union Station (PGH)

1:39a | 1:39a - Alliance, OH (ALC)

2:53a | 2:59a - Cleveland, OH (CLE)

3:29a | 3:29a - Elyria, OH (ELY)

4:02a | 4:02a - Sandusky, OH (SKY)

5:08a | 5:22a - Toledo, OH (TOL)

6:36a | 6:36a - Waterloo, IN (WTI)

7:29a | 7:29a - Elkhart, IN (EKH)

7:51a | 7:51a - South Bend, IN (SOB)

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) - 12/22 8:45a

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/09/amtrak ... and-miami/

Two iconic routes combine to create a new travel experience
WASHINGTON – Amtrak customers can now purchase tickets on the Floridian, a new temporary route offering a direct round-trip between Chicago and Miami with intermediate stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa that will take customers to these cities in comfort and style. This train combines the routes of the Capitol Limited and Silver Star for a limited time and makes its inaugural trip on Sunday, Nov. 10.
“The Floridian offers customers an exceptional and sustainable journey to great destinations between Chicago and Miami, providing the amenities and delicious food our guests enjoy when traveling with us,” Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Eliot Hamlisch said.
Customers traveling in Coach Class enjoy wide, reclining seats with ample legroom, no middle seat, and windows to enjoy the scenery. For extra comfort and additional privacy, customers can upgrade to a First Class private room. For an additional fee, a limited number of dining car meals are also available for Coach Class customers.
First Class private room options include a Roomette—featuring two reclining seats that transform into upper and lower beds by night and shower access—or a Bedroom offering twice the space of a Roomette and an in-room restroom and shower. The private rooms have large bi-level windows, a sink and a dedicated attendant who provides turndown service, assists with meals, helps with luggage and shares great stories of life on the rails.
All customers in private rooms receive complimentary lounge access at major stations and priority boarding.
The Floridian will offer Traditional Dining service in the Dining Car, a complimentary amenity for customers traveling in First Class private rooms. This popular service, experienced in a dining car with bi-level windows, will feature several enhancements, including chef-prepared meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner; table service with glassware, cutlery and linen tablecloths; vegetarian and vegan menu options; selections for children and a complimentary alcoholic drink with dinner. The menu offers several customer favorites, including:
Amtrak Signature Railroad French Toast, Three Egg Omelet for breakfast;
Artisan Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Natural Angus Burger, Vegan Chili Bowl for lunch;
Amtrak Signature Flat Iron Steak, Atlantic Salmon, Rigatoni Bolognese for dinner.
Café service, also featuring a newly updated menu, will be available onboard for all customers, offering a variety of meals, snacks and beverages for sale.
Amtrak is temporarily combining the Capitol Limited and Silver Star trains to create the Floridian due to the upcoming East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project in New York. During this project, one tunnel tube will be closed at a time, minimizing service impacts, maximizing construction access and modernizing the tunnel infrastructure to serve customers for another 100 years.
“Our members have had a long-standing dream of restoring a one-seat ride from the Midwest to Florida, and we’re thrilled that a new generation of American passengers will be able to experience this service for themselves,” said Jim Mathews, President & CEO of the Rail Passengers Association. “This move will free up badly needed equipment while taking pressure off Northeast Corridor infrastructure during the renovation of the ERT Project. Rail Passengers applauds Amtrak for this innovative solution to keeping passengers moving during critical state of good repair work. We believe riders will flock to this new service.”
The Floridian (Trains 40 & 41) will operate on a similar schedule and make the current stops of the Capitol Limited (Trains 29 & 30) between Chicago and Washington, D.C., and the Silver Star (Trains 91 & 92) between Miami and Washington, D.C. The Silver Meteor (Trains 97 & 98) continues to operate daily between New York and Miami.

I’m curious to know if the former path of the Silver Star will be available for the commuter railroads to use for services that don’t go into NYP. For example, I could see MARC finding its path useful for a limited-stop service that uses its nine-car bi-level consist.

That path is the NEC. Who eventually fills that time slot, local commuter rail or another Amtrak train, probably has already been decided. Amtrak plans to run more Acela 2 trains than Acela 1 trains, the very likely candidate.
-

west point wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 4:24 pm It is going to take a while for all the connections to be posted. Only some Chief connections are shown. Maybe calls to reservations might get them in the computer for about 6 months,

I highly suggest not scheduling connections to the Floridian from west coast trains arriving in Chicago on the same day. To the late evening departing Lake Shore Limited, yes; but not to the late afternoon departing Floridian.
I usually recommend spending a night in Chicago if you have the time and cash to afford an overnight hotel room for all long distance train connections in Chicago. There is lots to do and visit in Chicago, stop and smell the roses.

Some are making the NYP situation too complicated.
1. Have as regional that arrives at NYP depart NYP an hour later around Star's present departure time/
2. Have a regional that is scheduled to terminate at NYP at Star's time. Then that train set goes back to WASH.
! & 2 have just eliminated 2 transits thru the East River tubes also going to SSY not interfering with LIRR trains that cannot use bore #1 then #2 when 1 is finished refurbishment.

Have all y’all looked at the diagram?

This run is going northwest out of DC, Pittsburgh by way of Martinsburg.

If there’s a vacant space in the NEC schedule, Amtrak will fill it.

Is the Silver Meteor consist gaining any equipment (like another sleeper) with this change?

Just guessing but I would think the Star's equipment becomes the Floridian's, while the Capitol's is broken up to western services.

RandallW wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 4:42 am Is the Silver Meteor consist gaining any equipment (like another sleeper) with this change?

No unless they find another Viewliner somewhere. Capitol Limited's Superliner equipment, and I won't be surprised if there's a run of the Cap Limited with Viewliner equipment or two beforehand to get everything ready. It's a two day train, after all. All the Superliner equipment's going west.

(Guess we better change the title here...)

RandallW wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 4:42 am Is the Silver Meteor consist gaining any equipment (like another sleeper) with this change?

Not initially. Amtrak had 16 Viewliner 1 sleepers in Beech Grove repair facilities. They need to add an additional trainset to the Silver Star's 4 trainsets, for a total of 5 trainsets. The Silver Star had been running with 2 Viewliner sleepers, using a total of 8. Amtrak plans to run the Floridian with 3 Viewliner sleepers on 5 trainsets, needing a total of 15. Therefore, 7 of the 16 Viewliner sleepers in Beech Grove had to be repaired and re-enter service by November.
As for Amfleet 2 coaches, the Star had been running with one additional coach than the Meteor. It probably already had enough for the Floridian. So no additional Amfleet 2 coaches should be needed, except for possibly holiday peaks that Amtrak already handles by scheduling the fleet's heavy maintenance.
Theoritically, Amtrak will still have up to 8 more Viewliners in Beech Grove awaiting repairs that could enter service elsewhere. Just adding another to any existing train would use half of them, with 4 trainsets per train. If the Cardinal was changed to a daily service, all the remaining Viewliner sleepers would be needed to be repaired.
Amtrak had 50 Viewliner 1 and 25 Viewliner 2 full sleepers built. I doubt all of them are still available for service as some must had been destroyed beyond repair in derailments. There is a limited number Amtrak has to use.

west point wrote: ↑Mon Sep 23, 2024 9:47 pm Some are making the NYP situation too complicated.
1. Have as regional that arrives at NYP depart NYP an hour later around Star's present departure time/
2. Have a regional that is scheduled to terminate at NYP at Star's time. Then that train set goes back to WASH.
! & 2 have just eliminated 2 transits thru the East River tubes also going to SSY not interfering with LIRR trains that cannot use bore #1 then #2 when 1 is finished refurbishment.

Oh, I misunderstood the problem then! I assumed that the capacity crunch was the Hudson tubes from Hackensack to NYP, not the East River tubes from NYP to Sunnyside. That's why I posited that the commuter railroads would be able to use the path released by the new Floridian, as opposed to Amtrak.